EZVacuum - Clean & Green Living » disinfectantshttp://www.ezvacuum.com/blog
Ideas for Green Living on a budgetThu, 22 May 2014 22:47:42 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1Cleaning Everyday Keeps the Flus Awayhttp://www.ezvacuum.com/blog/health/cleaning-everyday-keeps-the-flus-away.html
http://www.ezvacuum.com/blog/health/cleaning-everyday-keeps-the-flus-away.html#commentsTue, 05 May 2009 03:30:47 +0000http://www.ezvacuum.com/blog/?p=269With the scare of swine flu at the forefront of the news, many are left wondering just how to clean in a manner that will enhance the probability of not catching the dreaded illness throughout their homes. It is imperative to many to sanitize, sanitize, sanitize.

However, your cleaning methods really don’t have to change. Most of the eco-friendly cleaners found at EZ Vacuums are perfectly capable of providing adequate disinfectant properties while leaving your home fresh and clean.

The only surfaces you may want to really beef up your cleaning around are areas not normally cleaned on a daily basis in most homes. These include light switches, doorknobs, appliance handles, telephones, remotes and faucet fixtures. Basically, any surface touched by multiple people throughout the day. The reason these community surfaces are more at risk for bacteria and viruses is due to the high volume of touching required to use them.

Viruses, bacteria, and germs all rely on a common thread of survival. They are capable of being passed through community objects because they can all survive for several days to several weeks without a human host. This is known as the incubation period for a virus. It is the time it takes for the virus to become dormant and harmless prior to finding a human host to infect. Each virus has a different incubation period.

Then, once it has its new host, there is a short time span before symptoms of any kind are noticed. For instance, you wake up with a serious head cold one morning. Chances are, you’ve actually had the same cold for a number of days but no symptoms were apparent. Further, the probability that you contracted your cold through touching a community object either in a public place or your own home is high. The probability that you touched your eyes, nose, or mouth directly after touching the object is also high as these are favorite entry points for viruses.

In all likelihood, the illness was contracted in your own home. You children used the phone, then you did. Perhaps the virus that created your cold was one that your children brought home from school and transferred to the phone through touching it. The virus then lay in wait to claim its next host: you.

To prevent this, there are several commercial disinfectants on the market that are both eco-friendly and affordable. These compounds can be sprayed directly on the surface and then wiped with a clean, soft towel.

If you prefer, consider that a light solution of bleach will effectively eliminate these hungry little viruses quite well. Also consider that chlorine can kill entire ecosystems. So, be careful when deciding to use such a non-environmentally friendly solution to a problem that is really just a part of life.

In cases such as the swine flu and other little known viruses, fear is usually the driving factor to panic. And, this fear is usually unwarranted. As it turns out, reports are now claiming that swine flu is no more deadly than the more common variety of influenza seen every year. In fact, no one who has contracted it in the United States has died with the exception of the 2 year old Mexican boy who was visiting family members in the U.S at the time of his death. Everyone is recuperating as would be expected with any other flu.

New reports are also contradicting the early findings on the amount of antibodies that can be assumed to be within the population. It has been discovered that while the mutation which created the three strains of flu into one, every single individual strain comprising swine flu has been seen in the general population before. This indicates that recovery is quite probable and that many will not even become infected regardless of exposure since antibodies are probably already in place to prevent such infections.

I believe that the only reason this season’s swine flu created a panic is that patients were not being diagnosed and treated until after complications arose. All viruses can produce complications within susceptible individuals. This is why the common strain of influenza claims approximately 36 thousand lives each year. If we take care of our general health when no illness is present, then we should be just fine. Practicing good hygiene and managing our overall well being should be enough to keep us healthy.

This will be the last blog I write on this subject. It is important to see the true perspective this and all illness must be placed within in order to avoid panic. However, it is never a good idea to pound something into the ground. Remember, common sense is our most powerful defense and should be used when deciding our reactions to any situation.